Door fastening



Oct. 16, 1956 A. E. NORMAN 2,767,010

DOOR FASTENING Filed June 7, 1954 I} UCiZZrZQI' .fllkformazz/ hire DOOR FASTENING Alan Ernest Norman, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, assignor to Wilmot-Breeden Limited, Birmingham, England This invention has for its object to provide in a simple form a door fastening, and particularly a vehicle door fastening of the type having a rotary toothed catch arranged to co-operate with a fixed toothed striker.

A fastening in accordance with the invention comprises the combination of a rotary toothed catch, a ratchet wheel secured to the catch, a three-armed pawl having one of its arms adapted to co-operate with the ratchet wheel, a pawl-releasing lever operable from the outside of the door and having therein a gap into which extends a projection on one of the other arms of the pawl, a second pawl-releasing lever operable from the inside of the door and adapted to act on the third arm of the pawl, this lever being also adapted to prevent actuation of the other pawl-releasing lever, and a spring interconnecting the first mentioned lever and pawl.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a sectional rear elevation and side elevation of a fastening embodying the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the mechanism is mounted on a metal plate adapted for attachment to the tree vertical edge of a vehicle (or other) door, the plate comprising integral parts a, al which are at right angles to each other. (311 the outer side of th plate part a is arranged a rotary toothed catch b adapted to engage a fixed toothed striker on the door frame when the door is closed. The catch is carried by a short spindle c, supported by and extending through the plate, and on the inner end of the spindle is secured a ratchet wheel (I having cam shaped teeth.

On the inner side of the said plate part is pivotally mounted a pawl, having three arms 6, f, g, the pawl being carried by a pivot pin h. The arm e of the pawl co-operates with the ratchet wheel d. Also on the inner side of the plate is mounted on a pivot pin 1' a lever j which is operable from the outside of the door by a push button or other means acting on an abutment k on the lever. In this lever is formed a gap In and into this gap extends a lateral projection n on the outer end of the arm f of the pawl. The lever j is connected to the third arm g of the pawl by a spring 0, which serves to hold the lever in its normal position in which an end part ,0 of the lever abuts against one side of a collar q on the pivot pin h carrying the pawl. The spring by its action on the pawl, also causes the arm c to contact atnt with any of the cam-shaped parts of the ratchet wheel to rotate the latter into position in which the said arm abuts against a radial edge of a tooth. This action of the spring is made possible by appropriate shaping of the IQQ cam-shaped parts of the ratchet wheel, and results in the catch being caused to assume a proper position for engagement with the striker.

The arrangement is such that by inward movement of the lever j one edge of the gap in is caused to abut on the said projection a for disengaging the pawl from the ratchet wheel when it is required to open the door from the outside. The size of the gap is, however, such that the pawl can be moved relatively to this lever when it is required to open the door from the inside. Also the gap is such that normally the projection occupies a position spaced from the operative edge of the gap as shown, so that the pawl cannot be released by vibratory movements of the door or by impacts on the door.

For eiiecting release of the pawl from the inside of the door, a lever r operable by an inside handle is arranged to act on the third arm g of the pawl. This lever is also movable in the opposite direction into a position (as indicated by the dotted ines in Figure 1) in which it lies adjacent to an abutment s on the lever j for preventing actuation of this lever.

When closing the door the striker engages the catch in known manner, and the catch is secured for holding the door closed by the interaction of the pawl and ratchet wheel. Release of the fastening to allow the door to be opened is effected by actuation of either of the above mentioned levers j, r. When it is required to prevent opening of the door from the outside, the lever r is moved to the position in which it obstructs movement of the lever 1'.

On the part a is secured a projecting part it which co-operates with the striker when the door is closed, but this feature forms no part of the present invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A door fastening of the type specified, comprising in combination a rotary toothed catch, a ratchet wheel arranged coaxially with and secured to the catch, a three-armed pawl pivotally mounted so that one of its arms can co-operate with the ratchet wheel to prevent rotation of the ratchet wheel and catch in one direction, a lateral projection on another of the arms of the pawl, a first pawl-releasing lever operable from the outside of the door and having therein a gap into which the said projection extends so that the lever can serve at one edge of the gap to act on the projection and thereby release the pawl from the ratchet wheel when th lever is moved in one direction, the said edge being normally spaced from the projection to prevent the lever from acting on the pawl during the initial part of the lever movement, a second pawl-releasing lever movable from the inside of the door in one direction to act on the third arm of the pawl to release the latter from the ratchet wheel, and in the opposite direction to prevent actuation of the first pawl-releasing lever, and a spring interconnecting the first pawl-releasing lever and the pawl.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,270,559 Rolph et a1. Jan. 20, 1942 2,557,468 Roethel June 19, 1951 2,646,300 Roethel July 21, 1953 

